Back in April, when veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers was still mulling his options with several teams, we saw a number of reports quoting that Rodgers had said he’d be willing to play for $10MM on a one-year contract in 2025. While the Steelers are still getting a pretty good bargain on the reported numbers we saw this afternoon (one-year, $13.5MM with $10MM guaranteed and $6MM in incentives), it’s still more than the $10MM number that was so often quoted. 
An easy way to reconcile this could simply be to say that Pittsburgh wanted to honor his commitment to play on a lower-end, try-out deal while adding a little incentive to ensure he found his way to the Steel City. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer has a different theory.
In a post on X, shortly following the announcement of details on Rodgers’ new contract, Breer wrote, “For what it’s worth, I’d heard the $10 million number, at the time, was sort of exclusive to the Rams. As in, an example of how badly he wanted to go there in March.”
As the Rams were allowing their Super Bowl-winning passer Matthew Stafford to talk to other teams and gauge his market, a link seemingly emerged between the team and Rodgers. A northern California native and Cal alumnus, Rodgers has always been drawn to the potential of returning to his home state. A report in late February delivered rumors that Rodgers had the Rams in his cross hairs, and that he intended to, once again, take long-time teammate Davante Adams with him.
This rumor held a lot of weight at the time, considering that the wide receiver had already expressed interest in returning to the west coast earlier that month, specifically calling out the Rams and Chargers in the process. Ultimately, Adams did end up signing with the Rams, but at that point, the team had already agreed to secure Stafford for another season.
So, according to Breer, Rodgers’ quote may have been taken a bit out of context. While it may have just been a way to express how badly he would’ve loved to play alongside Adams in their home state, Rodgers still accepted a frugal, team-friendly deal in Pittsburgh on similar terms.